Growth cap proponents to plan next step

Proponents of the Sustainable Growth Initiative will meet this weekend to determine if they will appeal a judge’s decision this week to bounce it from the ballot.

Douglas County District Judge David Gamble ruled Tuesday the voters’ right to file an initiative does not extend to zoning issues.

The initiative was placed on the ballot after supporters garnered signatures on petitions proposing to limit growth in Carson Valley to 280 units per year.

In his decision, Gamble wrote: “If the current trend in case law continues … the initiative … will tend to become less useful than it historically has been.”

“What (Gamble) said was very significant,” said John Garvin, co-chair of the Sustainable Growth Initiative Committee. “We agree. and maybe any limit on the purpose of the initiative should be narrowly defined.”

Developers Nevada Northwest LLC sued the Douglas County Commission and Sustainable Growth Initiative Committee’s five leaders last month to get the growth cap taken off the November ballot.

Gamble heard arguments the week before he released a 12-page decision that, in a nutshell, says county commissions, not voters, should be making decisions on zoning issues, such as the number of buildings constructed in a year.